Grecians are lucky to have a manager like Gary Caldwell, insists Sweeney

EXETER City captain Pierce Sweeney says the club are lucky to have a manager of the calibre of Gary Caldwell and he deserves more credit from those that doubt him.

- By STUART JAMES

Despite having one of the smallest budgets in League One in each of the past two seasons, Caldwell has guided the Grecians to 14th, 13th and 16th-placed finishes in the third tier. This coming season will be no different with Exeter sure to start the season are pre-season favourites for relegation once again, but despite outperforming budget as well as he has, there is a section of the fanbase unhappy that Caldwell is at the helm.

"I think, when you start a season as well as we have in each of the last two seasons, the expectation goes right up again," Sweeney said. "We were in the top seven for the first month or so - maybe even longer than that - and if you are a fan of your football club and you see your team in the top six or seven in that first period of the season, your expectations go through the roof.